Harry Potter And The Greatest Death Eater
by lordofhalfbloods
Summary: Harry Potter, betrayed by his friends in the summer of the 5th Year sets out to forge a new life for himself involving new friends and old not so much friends. But what happens when he has a chance meeting with one of Voldemort's most powerful Death Eaters? Dark Harry plus Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Molly and Dumbledore bashing.
1. The Aligning Stars

Harry Potter And The Greatest Death Eater

A/N: Please bear with me with this story as this is my first attempt at Harry Potter fanfiction. Also this is not a fic for Ron, Ginny or Hermione lovers, this will most definitely have bashing of those people. This a independent!Harry and Dark!Harry story. As for romance I'm not sure if there will be some but if there is there is no certain pairing but it could be anyone of Rita, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Tonks or Luna. Rated T for now but that may change later.

Disclaimer: Now we all know that I don't own Harry Potter

 _Spells_ "speech" thought

Chapter 1 The Aligning Stars

" _Don't fear the enemy who attacks you, but the fake friend that hugs you"_

Harry Potter was bored, very bored, so bored in fact that he was reading his divination book for fun. That, Harry reflected as he mindlessly turned the pages of _Unfogging the future_ was a new low but as he flicked the pages on crystal gazing and palmistry something caught his eye it was a page that had the interesting title of How To Know If You're Being Cheated. As Harry looked through the chapter his eyebrows rose from normal level to about the level of his scar, all the things the book mentioned were things that were happening to him: lack of contact, Orion appearing in the eastern sky and an excessive amount of chores. These, Harry thought grimly were all things that had happened to him, the Dursleys had given Harry even more chores, he had spotted Orion in the eastern sky one evening and he hadn't heard from Ron and Hermione since term ended and to make matters worse he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time(again) and now had to face a Wizengamot hearing because he had saved his cousin from dementors with a patronus charm. Honestly, Harry thought, could life get any worse. He threw _Unfogging The Future_ over to a corner of his room as Uncle Walrus walked in. Harry stifled a laugh, he liked to refer to them this way, Uncle Walrus and Cousin Whale. Walrus began to talk "Your aunt, Dudley and I are going out and leaving you here, you aren't to touch anything and I'm going to lock your door." "You do that then" Harry said dully, Vernon looked suspicious at Harry's lack of argument but didn't press the matter and with a final glare at Harry the walrus walked out and locked the door.

Harry was jerked from his silent reverie with a start. He had heard something, maybe they were burglars thought Harry and they could rob him and he could sue the Dursleys for not keeping him safe and he could finally be allowed to leave this place. Now was a time to be ready to use his wand because he was going to get expelled anyway and if it was Voldemort it wouldn't matter that he used underage magic. While he was thinking the intruders had reached the top of the stairs and Harry heard a whisper of " _Alohomora"_ and he stood up ready to rush at the door when the intruders enter. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice "calm down Harry, we're not burglars" Harry relaxed as he heard the voice of his ex-defense against the dark arts teacher Remus Lupin. Professor Lupin pushed the door open and revealed to Harry a group of four or five people, noticing that Harry didn't recognise some of then he introduced them "So Harry, you'll know Mad-eye" he said pointing to a grizzled man with half his nose missing "that girl over there is Nymphadora Tonks" pointing to a girl with bubblegum pink hair, she nodded at him "Wotcher Harry, but make sure never to call me Nymphadora or I'll hex you." Slightly nervous Harry turned back to Lupin who was pointing at a tall black man "and that there is Kingsley Shacklebolt" the man shook Harry's hand. "So why are you all here?" Harry asked puzzled. "We're here to take you away on behalf of Dumbledore" answered Moody. Harry shrugged "as long as I get away from the Dursley's I don't care if I go and live under a bridge." "Then we best get going" said Lupin "Come over here boy" snapped Moody "I need to disillusion you" Harry walked over hesitantly and felt a shiver as Moody placed a disillusionment charm on him. "So how are we getting there?" Harry asked "by broom" answered Tonks. "What about my trunk and owl?" "To many questions" grumbled Moody "we'll levitate your stuff, now let's get going" Harry slipped onto his Firebolt, kicked off and soared into the night.

It was a cold flight and Harry was not unhappy when they landed in the middle of London but Harry really couldn't see where they were going, they had landed in the middle of a muggle street and everywhere to Harry seemed as muggle as Privet drive. "What are we-" Harry started to say before Moody answered him "here, read this strip of paper and memorise it" Harry looked down at the piece of paper and read it, it said: _The Headquarters Of The Order Of The Phoenix Are Located At No. 12 Grimmauld Place_ Harry looked up from the scrap and began to say "What's the order of the-" but was cut off as he stared in amazement at Grimmauld Place, between numbers 11 and 13 a completely new house was forming but the muggles in No. 11 and No. 13 didn't seem to notice a thing. When the house finally became fully formed Moody led him, Tonks, Lupin and Kingsley into the house, despite the cool why it appeared the house on the inside seemed to be quite dusty and dirty and there were a lot of old grumpy looking paintings as he came to the first door he was stopped from following them in by a hug from Mrs Weasley "Hello Harry dear, why don't you head upstairs, you're with Ron right at the end of the corridor" Harry nodded and headed up to see his best friends and the people who were some of the keys to surviving the Dursleys. It was time for another magical year to begin.


	2. A Betrayal Of The Worst Kind

A/N: While this may seem like the fifth book at the start it becomes AU by this or the next chapter and also thank you to Who Are You What Do You Want for being the first reviewer.

Disclaimer: I don't and never will own _Harry Potter_

Chapter 2 A Betrayal Of The Worst Kind

" _The Saddest Thing About Betrayal Is It Never Comes From Your Enemies"_

Harry walked slowly up the rickety stairs of the house, as he came to the landing he glanced around. He saw many dark doorways, all with their doors shut but when Harry strained his ears he could hear voices coming from a room right at the end of the hallway, as he neared the room he could distinguish three separate voices talking, they were the voices of Ron, Hermione and Ginny, he was about to walk through the door when Ron said something that made him freeze "So Hermione how's the progress on the love potion for Harry?" Harry's hands curled into fists, so it was true, his friends were betraying him. He paused, waiting for Hermione to answer "It should be ready by tomorrow, we can slip it into his food and soon he'll be head over heels in love with Ginny" Harry was about to storm in when he heard Ginny say something "and Mum and Dumbledore are almost finished shovelling gold from his vault into ours" Harry fury boiled over, not only had his oldest friends betrayed him but also the woman he had loved like a mother and the man Harry had held in the deepest respect, there was no question about it, revenge must be committed he thought, and it must be done painfully. With that thought Harry threw the door open.

Ron, Hermione and Ginny all jumped back as Harry threw the door open and looked very scared when they saw who was standing in the doorway. Harry was standing with his arms crossed and a look of terrible rage on his face, they looked ready to be yelled at Harry thought but when he opened his mouth his voice was not loud, and he wasn't yelling but in way thought Harry that must be even more scary. Harry's voice was quiet as he said "you betrayed me, you betrayed your oldest friend Ron" Ron snorted "I was only friends with you for the money, fame and because Dumbledore told me to, who would want to be friends with a stupid idiot like you?" A solitary tear rolled down Harry's face as Ron said that "what about you Hermione? I saved your life in our 1st year" Hermione looked a bit sadder about it than Ron but she answered "Harry you just don't try and it annoys me, you copy my essays when you're rich enough that if you applied yourself then you would do well but like Ron said you're a stupid idiot." Finally Harry turned to Ginny "what about you?" She answered "Harry I don't have the same motives as them, I want to marry you, get laid and have 6 children and have the boy-who-lived all to myself" Harry looked at them sadly "well if that's all you have to say, I'm leaving now, I guess I'll see you around at Hogwarts" and with that Harry stormed from the room and to the Order's shock straight out of the door of No. 12 Grimmauld Place.

Harry finally settled himself on a park bench in Hyde Park where it was light enough to see people approaching but dark enough to get to sleep. There sat the boy who lived, abandoned by his friends as he cried himself to sleep. Harry found himself in a different setting from his usual graveyard nightmare, he was standing in the middle of a green field, looking down on a couple having a picnic with their baby. As Harry got closer he recognised them: It was his parents, he saw his mother's red hair and green eyes and his father's unruly black hair that was so much like his own, Harry choked back a cry, that meant that the small child was...him, he watched as his younger self flew around about one foot above ground on a toy broom, he watched as the baby came down and run into his mother's arms, Harry watched as the baby did all the things Harry could never remember doing. "Terrible isn't it, to lose one's parents at a age so young" Harry turned and saw a man he had never seen before, he had light blonde hair and orange, very catlike eyes "who are you?" Harry asked "Oh I'm disappointed Harry, don't you remember me, we have met before after all" and when he heard the man speak again Harry suddenly realised who it was "you" he said, "yes me" said Henrik Sigurdsson, the ex-auror and Voldemort's greatest death eater.

Harry flashed back to the day Voldemort returned, he remembered Voldemort pressing Wormtail's mark to call the death eaters and the group of death eater's that arrived, he remembered Voldemort passing each one reprimanding them for not trying to find him until he came to the last one "Not even you tried to find me Henrik, not even the greatest of my death eaters went to Azkaban for me" Harry recalled how while all the other death eaters had flinched at Voldemort this particular one stood firm and answered Voldemort to his face "my lord, what use would I have been in Azkaban, the ministry and Dumbledore believe me firmly on the light side, revealing my support for you after you had fallen would have accomplished nothing, while Bellatrix, Rabastan and Rodolphus are all confirmed death eaters I am not" Harry had been expecting Voldemort to curse the man but instead he just turned to Harry. Harry was jerked from his flashback by Henrik as he said "I am an orphan too you know and also like you I was betrayed by people I trusted, the ministry threw me out merely because I wished to mobilise the Auror force against Voldemort, the ministry refused to even listen to me and chucked me out on the spot, so angry with my plight I joined Voldemort, that was the best decision I have made in the last 15 years." "Why are you telling me this?" Harry asked "I just want you to consider what I said tonight and I hope you make the right decision for your sake" Henrik answered, Harry looked suspicious but accepted the answer and in an instant he was awake.

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter, please leave reviews if or if not you want Harry to be in a romance in this story


	3. Mercy, Percy!

A/N: And I'm back, I'm sorry about the break but I have been away on holiday and unable to write, however this time has given me a chance to think about where I want this story to go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 3 Mercy, Percy!

" _People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for"-Harper Lee_

Harry pulled himself up from his position on the park bench groaning as his stiff muscles protested at his action. Harry looked around Hyde Park in the pre-dawn light, the park was deserted apart from the occasional early morning jogger, Harry estimated it was about 5:30 in the morning, he was about to walk off into muggle London when a glance at his watch stopped him. The date part of his watch read 4th of August, he looked up in shock, he had four hours till his hearing and he had absolutely no idea where the ministry of magic was. Harry looked quickly around the park, wondering what to do when it hit him, he stuck out his wand and in an instant the Knight Bus was trundling through Hyde Park before coming to a stop in front of him. Its pimpled conductor Stan Shunpike looked out at him "Harry Potter!?" Harry mentally groaned, he had been expecting that but he had a small hope that it wouldn't, coming out of his grump he said to Stan "yeah, I want to go to the ministry of magic" Stan nodded "that'll be two sickles then" Harry dug around in his pocket before finally extracting two pieces of silver and handing them to Stan before walking onto the bus. As he looked around the bus he noticed that even though it must have been 6 in the morning the beds of the bus were gone and in their place were normal bus seats. He took a seat but in a moment he heard Stan yelling "ministry of magic!" Harry got up from his seat on the bus to get out and as he did Stan came up to him and said "if you want the visitors entrance it's in that fellytone box" Harry nodded his thanks to Stan and walked out of the bus, to his surprise he noticed that he was in Whitehall. Harry walked over to the telephone box and opened the door, the phone box was plain, with just a keypad and a hole where the phone should go. Harry looked down at the keypad and decided that the entrance would probably be a keypad combination, he tried a couple of different combinations like Fudge, Albus and scams when it suddenly came to him, it was magic. So simple Harry thought as he pushed the buttons, the moment his button pushing shenanigans had ended a robotic voice came from somewhere in the box saying "Welcome to the Ministry Of Magic, please state your name and business" Harry looked nervously around before saying "Harry Potter, to attend a disciplinary hearing" and with that a badge shot out into his hand, and with that the box began to move and descended into the bowels of the ministry.

Harry emerged from the phone box into a huge golden hall with a beautiful fountain in the centre of the room that showed a witch and a wizard who looked very arrogant while looking up at them with adoration were a goblin, a centaur and a house-elf that apart from the latter looked very different from the reality, as Harry looked around trying to find where to go he walked straight into Percy Weasley. Percy glared at him "look where you're going next-, Harry, is that you?" Harry nodded at him "I'm trying to find the way to my trial, do you know where it is?" "Yes, yes" Percy said, taking his arm "as a matter of fact I was just on the way there myself, I'll show you the way" Harry followed Percy, a bit confused by this whole thing. As he walked along at Percy's side the aforementioned began to talk "it's lucky I found you here Harry, I've been meaning to owl you", before Harry could ask the obvious question Percy answered him "you see, my family may have told you I left because of ambition and not believing Dumbledore but really just after you guys got back from school I heard Mum, Ron and Ginny talking about defrauding you and using a love potion on you, so I confronted them and then stormed out" Harry looked at him, surprised, Harry had never really thought Percy one who would stand up for him but then maybe it came from Percy caring so much about rules. "Well, the Weasley's didn't get a chance to tell me anything, I walked right in on them in the middle of it" said Harry flatly. Percy nodded sadly "it's terrible what some people do for money" and with that the two of them lapsed into silence.

After about ten minutes of walking Percy stopped outside a big brown door "here we are, I have to go straight in but you have to wait outside until I call you" Harry nodded and slumped on the bench while Percy disappeared inside. Five very tense minutes later Percy appeared saying formally "Mr. Potter, if you would please follow me" Harry stood resignedly and followed Percy into court. Harry looked around observing all the robed witches and wizards sitting above him and straight in front was a dominant looking dark haired woman, Fudge and a woman who bore a strange resemblance to a toad, Harry was jerked from his thoughts by Fudge's voice. "Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August, into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery and the International Statute of Secrecy by Harry James Potter of No. 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic; Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley-" Fudge was cut off by a new voice, loud and clear "Witness for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore" Harry turned his head and saw Dumbledore striding towards them. Harry thought quickly, he couldn't have that manipulative fossil as his representative, suddenly an idea struck him, an idea that was such a long shot it might actually work "I plead guilty" Harry said loudly to the courtroom.

A/N: And that's that, I had intended for this chapter to have the whole trial but I like leaving it where it is, so you'll just have to wait to find out what happens next.


	4. Wizards, Witches and Human Rights

A/N: Before we begin here I would just like to say that I'm so amazed at all the support this story has got, I never would have believed that I could have 30 favourites and 62 followers on this story, I would also like to especially thank the four people who have so far reviewed my story.

Chapter 4 Wizards, Witches and Human Rights

" _Before you judge me...I plead guilty"_

Harry's words reverberated through the courtroom generating murmurs of shock and amazement but to Harry Fudge's reaction was the best of all, the man's bowler had fallen off and he was wearing an expression of delighted surprise similar to the one on Snape's face at the beginning of his second year. Meanwhile Dumbledore was staring at Harry in amazement as he watched his plan shatter before his eyes.

Dumbledore was fuming in his chintz armchair as he stared at Harry, the wizengamot had dissolved into what he considered mindless drivel but Dumbledore was busy trying to save a situation that currently appeared to have gone from critical but stable to life support. He had only recently(as in the last few hours) heard that Harry had found out about the money he had siphoned off from the Potter accounts to the Weasleys and Hermione and the love potion and marriage contract he had arranged between Ginevra and Harry, now rather than him saving Harry from being expelled and Harry being grateful, Harry had chosen to throw caution to the winds and plead guilty. No one had pled guilty in a case like this for many years, mainly because to do so would be to automatically be expelled and have one's wand broken so even the easily proved cases usually had the defendant pleading not guilty. Fudge's voice broke through Dumbledore's thoughts saying "If the defendant wishes to stand by their plea of guilty?" With this Fudge looked at Harry who nodded, "then I move the Wizengamot to vote on the decision to snap the wand of Mr. Potter and expel him from Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"One moment, your honour" Harry smirked, his plan was only just beginning "I believe that when you decided to try me in an organisation that acts as both parliament and the judiciary there is no separation of powers, and with that no accountability. Therefore I challenge that the prosecution has failed to observe the right I have as a human under the Human Rights Act to due process." It was mayhem, perhaps even more mayhem than had erupted when Harry had first announced his guilty plea. Harry could clearly hear members arguing while Fudge and the toad in the second row looked thunderstruck, Harry looked around some more and noticed to very interesting expressions; Percy was winking at him and Dumbledore looked, much to Harry's great pleasure shocked and disappointed. Eventually, after about five minutes the woman who Harry remembered was named Amelia Bones called for order. She cut a very domineering figure Harry thought as he looked up at Madam Bones who waited for silence before saying "Court Scribe, does the defendant have the right to object to this trial as he was not given due process?" Harry looked around the room and saw all eyes trained on Percy, who took a deep breath and said "Madam Bones, as the Human Rights Act was agreed on by the Wizengamot as well as muggle authorities, yes he does" Harry breathed a silent sigh of relief, he had been pretty sure his plan would work, but you can never count on the Ministry caring about little things like human rights. Madam Bones was speaking again and Harry found himself listening "Mr. Potter will you accept terms of we drop all charges and pays you compensation of 2,000ģ?" Harry thought slowly, he didn't really care about the money he just wanted to make the Ministry and Wizengamot look bad, so he might as well just accept the 2,000ģ and leave. Harry came to a decision and nodded "I agree to your terms" Madam Bones clapped her hands and said "I declare the Wizengamot adjourned."

Harry stood outside the courtroom, waiting for Percy to emerge, he noticed members of the Wizengamot leaving while arguing in quiet but heated tones. Eventually Fudge made his way out of the court, and with a final glare at Harry, Fudge stalked off. Percy, who appeared from behind Fudge, smiled at Harry, "you did it!" Harry nodded "it was a risky plan, but it paid off in the end" Percy looked at him carefully before saying "well, if I was you Harry I would make my way to Diagon alley and book a room at the Leaky Cauldron" Harry nodded his head in assent "I'll do that Percy, I also want to check out the status of my vault; so I'll write to you soon, Adios mi amigo." With that Harry left the court and the ministry to return to the Muggle world.

A/N: And that's that. Sorry that this is shorter than usual but I like it finishing here. So I guess it's time for me to rant about how Rowling portrayed Percy in the 5th book. She has him up and leaving his family and I really just don't see Percy doing that. Sure, he was ambitious but he wasn't crazy. Therefore, in my opinion for Percy to do what he did there must have been another factor rather than Dumbledore.


	5. Goblins like rumours, or is it truth?

A/N: I'm back, sorry for the delay but I've been busy. There is now a poll up on my page on who you want Harry to be romantically involved with in this story. The options are: Narcissa, Parvati, Tonks, or Lavender. If you don't like one of the options feel free to leave a review with your opinion.

Chapter 5 Goblin's like rumours...or is it truth?

" _Money, money, money, must be funny, in the rich man's world"_

Harry blinked hard as he was blinded by the sunlight that now shone so brightly in the late morning sky. Harry's vision cleared quickly and the teen looked around, trying to find the fastest way from Whitehall to the leaky cauldron, finally deciding on a course of action Harry set off, thinking as he walked about Henrik. He remembered when he had first seen the man's name, all those years ago while looking in _Notable Wizarding Names of Our Time_ for Nicolas Flamel, at that time he had regarded the name as just another one on the page but now…, well things had changed a lot. He could still remember the exact wording: "Henrik Sigurdsson-Former chief auror 1974-1980, creator of numerous defensive curses, resigned in mysterious circumstances in 1980" Harry thought about that last part, wondering why the ministry hadn't wanted Henrik to assemble the aurors in an army to engage Voldemort in full scale battle. Shrugging inwardly Harry cleared his mind of thoughts of Henrik and looked up, to find himself outside the Leaky Cauldron. Harry walked slowly into the pub, casting furtive glances at the inhabitants of the bar. Needless to say, this didn't sit well with some members of the clientele who shot Harry glares and muttered under their breath, Harry however ignored this in a manner the Malfoy's would have been proud of.

Harry emerged onto Diagon alley and headed straight in the direction of Gringotts. As he climbed the steps up to the entrance he reflected on the first time he had been here, it really had been a long time he thought. Harry entered the long entrance hall of the bank, that was filled with tellers from entrance to the far end of the hall. Harry glanced around slowly before heading towards the nearest open teller and greeting the goblin "good morning, my name is Harry Potter and I would like to see my account manager" the goblin raised his eyebrows at Harry before looking down at the ledger in front of him, finding what he was looking for the goblin looked up "please wait here Mr. Potter while I go and get Guzbegz" Harry nodded and watched as the goblin headed across the hall and disappeared through a door.

In a moment the teller returned walking side by side with a goblin, who to Harry's great surprise was wearing a muggle suit and carried a briefcase. Apart from being small and green Harry thought he wouldn't have looked out of place at the Houses of Parliament or in a corporate boardroom. He must have had a vacant expression on his face because the teller snapped at him saying testily "Mr. Potter, a goblin's time is expensive so would you mind getting back to the topic" Harry nodded, a little shamefaced. Guzbegz spoke for the first time saying "please follow me, we will analyse the Potter accounts in a little more privacy" Harry made to follow but was stopped by Guzbegz who was speaking curtly to the teller "Gaxar don't you have customers to attend to"

"Of course sir"

"Then do it and hurry up"

The goblin ran away as quick as he could before Guzbegz could tell him off again and returned to his customers, all the while casting glances in Harry out of the corner of his eye. Guzbegz gave a final snort before beckoning to Harry and disappearing out a side door, pausing a moment to cast a glance at the plaque on the door of the room which was written in latin much to Harry's surprise; it said Secundo gradu officium procurator Guzbegz. Harry walked slowly inside and looked around taking in the neat, orderly office. Again Harry thought that Guzbegz wouldn't have been out of place in the muggle world. Guzbegz broke into Harry's thoughts by saying "Mr. Potter if you could please take a seat we can take a look at these accounts" Harry came and sat in a chair next to Guzbegz who had a couple of sheets of parchment laid out on a table in front, Guzbegz seemed to notice what Harry was about to ask so he began to explain just what the parchment said "So Mr. Potter what we have here is all assets and shares that the Potter family possess, I would explain but I think it's better you read them yourself" and with that grim sounding statement Harry picked up the parchment and began to read.

 _Potter accounts Statement Of Financial Position for the year ended 5th March 1995_

Assets-Monetary

Family vault- 25,657,400 Galleons plus portraits and books

Trust vault- 765,500 Galleons, 500 G quarterly(used until minors come of age)

Assets-Property

Potter Estate-Value of 5,300,000 Galleons, 4 house elves, 65 hectares of good farmland, Somewhere in Kent

Vacation home(Corfu)- Value of 2,500,000 Galleons, 3 house elves(one part time), 10 hectares

Assets-Shares

5% stake in Leaky Cauldron

56% stake in Madam Rosmerta's

61% stake in Madam Malkin's

Major Transactions(Last 10 years)

5,000 Galleons annually to the Weasley account, Granger account and an offshore firm based in Monaco called Drero Hip Exon(retail chain)-Conducted on the authority of Albus Dumbledore

Harry felt his blood boil, Ron, Hermione and the Weasleys had been siphoning money off him for years and it didn't take much to work out out what Drero Hip Exon really was, a retail chain? Please. He turned to the goblin "I wish for you to cancel all three of those transactions permanently and by the way didn't the Potter's have some wizarding lawyers who could stop this? Also I would like to withdraw some money from my vault" the goblin raised his eyebrows at Harry's rapid fire questions, he looked like he was considering something before replying "I've just cancelled all further transactions authorised by Albus Dumbledore and here is a never-filling coin bag with 500 galleons currently in it as I took the liberty of sending someone to get some money for you while you were poring over the accounts and finally, yes the Potter's have been represented by Samokov, Carter and Nash but the firm went bankrupt a little after your parents deaths and was purchased completely by Albus Dumbledore, but here's where it gets interesting, in January 1982 a small newspaper released a story that Viktor Samokov was planning to sue Dumbledore but only 8 days later Samokov, Carter and Nash are all murdered and all opposition to the Headmaster ceases." Harry was horrified, mutely he took the money bag from Guzbegz and left Gringotts more than a little shaken. Wondering what scandal might come next Harry absently booked a room in the leaky cauldron and vanished up the stairs to be alone with his thoughts.

A/N: So another chapter finished, I'm sorry about the slow updates but please bear with me and I will keep bringing out what I hope is content you enjoy. Now I've read lots of fics where Harry is the richest man ever and has 80 last names but we have none of that on my story. Harry is just from a middle-class Wizarding family that has old roots. Please, please vote in the poll and also review, it helps me with my writing process. Given my slow updates the poll will probably last until I update again.


	6. Independence at Last

A/N: So here I am again and this is mostly just going to cover the rest of Harry's summer before he returns to Hogwarts for his fifth year so sorry if this chapter is a bit boring. Poll results so far are Narcissa 3, Parvati 2 and Lavender 1 plus one vote for a ravenclaw/hufflepuff.

Chapter 6 Independence at last

" _It's never too late to become what you might have been" George Eliot_

Harry yawned as he read the Hogwarts supply list that a barn owl had dumped on his head, causing him to fall unceremoniously out of bed and hurt himself. The list was short this year with only two books on the list: _The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5_ by Miranda Goshawk and _Defensive Magical Theory_ by Wilbert Slinkhard. Harry smiled inwardly, with less things to buy he could spend more time being lazy as health experts would call it or as he preferred to name it- Tactical Body Conditioning. Harry put down the list, pulled on some robes(Harry could never understand why wizards still had these, it was so totally cliché) and walked out the door with Guzbegz's money bag tucked in a pocket of his robes. As Harry emerged out of the wall onto Diagon Alley he only just managed to refrain from cursing. Mrs Weasley, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Weasleys were exiting from Flourish and Blotts and were heading his way. Now if it was the twins by themselves he probably would have made his presence known but given it was the whole family and Hermione he decided to make himself scarce.

Harry faded into the shadows that were cast by buildings near the entrance/exit to Diagon Alley and watched as the Weasley's made their way out. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as Hermione walked out with a suspicious backwards glance. Harry emerged from the shadows and made his way to the bookstore of Flourish and Blotts. The door creaked a bit as he pushed it open and walked into the mildly full bookstore. Harry estimated that there were probably 80 customers in the bookstore but nothing on the 400 or so that had turned out for the Lockhart book signing in his second year. Harry quickly made his way to the shelf where his textbooks were located and selected the two required books. Just as he was about to pay and leave he decided that given he had as much time as he wanted and lots of money he might as well do some more browsing. Harry didn't find anything that really interested him in 15 minutes and soon found himself at the very end of the shop where a small shelf with the card DISCREDITED BY MINISTRY in large writing. Harry was about to turn away, after all they were discredited but one title caught his eye _Level Two: The Auror Department and the Sigurdsson resignation uncovered_ by Hunc Quaesit. Harry could have laughed at his good fortune, he had been looking for a book on this and here it was, right in front of him. Harry checked the price tag, it was a paltry 5 galleons so he picked it up and headed to the counter to purchase the books. The person on the desk who Harry thought looked kind of familiar from Hogwarts raised an eyebrow when she saw what he was buying "are you sure you want to buy a discredited book sir?" she asked, to which Harry simply nodded. 5 minutes later Harry exited the bookshop 30 galleons poorer and 3 new books heavier. For a moment Harry considered doing the rest of his back to school shopping but rejected the idea, he had gone almost an hour without tactical body conditioning so Harry made his way to Florean Fortescue's, ordered a double scoop chocolate and raspberry, sat down in a sunny corner outside, propped the 'discredited' book open on his knee and began to eat and read.

Five hours later Harry rose, his stiff bones creaking in protest from the chair he had been sitting in. As he looked around Harry noticed that it was around late-afternoon and the alley was mostly empty apart from the few odd people still shopping. Harry lifted the book from his aching legs, he had managed to read 456 of the 985 pages and was beginning to understand why the ministry had put about a story saying that the book was false, because if the accusations made by the author in the book were found out to be true the entire Minchum ministry would fall under much disrepute. This book, even though he was only halfway through the book was already accusing Crouch Sr., Minister Minchum and Boris Vikander(head of the department of international magical cooperation) of conspiring for the assassination of Henrik Sigurdsson and that in response Henrik defrauded Crouch Sr. for 50% of his income earned from 1975-1979. Harry thought that if he hadn't already known about how corrupt the Fudge government was he might have considered the possibility that there was corruption at the top of the ministry as an impossible one. With this dismal thought Harry began to move towards the exit of Diagon Alley but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Harry whirled around and came face to face with the most unlikely person.

Narcissa Cassiopeia Malfoy prided herself on surprising people whether it was by her looks(despite being 39 Narcissa was still considered quite attractive) or by her intelligence(in a family where women were regarded as trophies Narcissa managed to be the smartest in the family, and by far the most politically astute) but never in her life had she thought that she might surprise Harry Potter. After all she was the mother of his 'arch enemy' Draco who spent all his summer and winter holidays insulting the boy-who-made-her-summers-boring. Anyway seeing Harry Potter in front of her gave her a chance that she was more than willing to take, so she stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. She watched as he whirled around and had enough time to be amazed at his quick reactions before his wand was pressing lightly against her neck. She had the uncomfortable sensation of his body pressing against hers before he slowly stepped away, while still keeping his wand pointing at her chest. He stared at her for a second before snapping "Why'd you do that?" Narcissa paused for a second, wondering why she had done that, she quickly felt around in her robes to see if there was anything she could use an excuse, finally she hit the jackpot. Henrik's book _Survival Instincts_ which was meant to go hand in hand with the the defense course book but the ministry had chosen in their infinite wisdom to not let students have the practical book. "Potter, I have a copy of the book which works with the 5th year defense textbook but the ministry decided to stop students from learning practical magic" she hoped that this answer would satisfy him and to her relief he nodded and held out his hand. She placed the book there and began to walk away but she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned and heard Potter say "don't do it again."

A/N: And we're done, this one is a lot faster update, the poll will stay for a bit more.


	7. Invictus

A/N: Here I am again sorry for the really slow update, I had some writer's block but I've finally finished. the poll has officially closed and Narcissa Malfoy is the winner, so that is who Harry will be romantically involved with, in this series. Now I have a couple of answers for reviews that I deemed might require an answer.

To Guest- Harry was shown by Rowling to be pretty emotionally unstable at the start of the 5th book and I just decided to have him be sad rather than angry, as for how he could have prevented it I don't know how he could've because he had no idea it was going on.

To sambeegoldiewhitey Harry is in no way cooperating with either Voldemort or Henrik, he is merely agreeing to listen to a proposal of Henrik's, not necessarily to agree with the proposal, also Harry still feels a shred of loyalty to some people in the UK and won't just leave them to deal with Voldemort themselves. So I hope that answers your question/statement.

Chapter 7

Invictus

" _The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it" John 1:5_

The boy was seated on a bench near platform nine, to your everyday passerby he looked like nothing special, little did they know that this hooded, normal looking teenager was Harry (I'm done with that boy-who-lived crap) Potter. To one only somewhat informed about the wizarding world it might have been a surprise to see the so-called 'hero child' sitting on a bench at a muggle train station, however as any good wizard knew, today was September 1st and the day for returning to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express at 11 o'clock, so just what was Harry Potter doing, for it was 6:52 am and much too early for the Hogwarts express. Well, the answer was that Harry was never going to take the train where he might run into _them_ and knowing his luck he would run into them. Harry didn't think he would be able to resist cursing Ron's fat head off. So Harry had decided to take the 7 am train to Inverness and from there make his own way to Hogwarts. Harry heard the bell ring and the porter call out "7:00 to Inverness, please board the train now at platform nine" so Harry stood pulled his trunk and Hedwig's cage over to the train, handed the porter £360, took a ticket from the surprised porter and walked on to train.

Harry sank down gratefully onto a plush couch in a private part of the first-class section of the train. He saw a sign which read 'taken' so he placed that on the door and relaxed, reflecting on this summer. Since his surprise encounter with Narcissa Malfoy his summer had been pretty uneventful, he had time to finish that mammoth book about the Auror Office and was frankly horrified with some of the political intrigues that had gone on on the Second Floor: Henrik, Crouch, Minchum, and Vikander had fallen out over Declaration #1986 which was Henrik's plan to mobilise the Aurors into Britain's magical army. It had caused Henrik to quit and as far as Harry could guess he joined the death eaters after that. He took out a new book, the book that Narcissa Malfoy had given him: _Survival Instincts_ by Henrik Sigurdsson, it was a very interesting book which talked about practical defensive magic including charms, transfiguration, jinxes, hexes, and curses. Harry so far had progressed to chapter 16 which was talking about the stinging hex. Just as he was about to begin to read tiredness overtook him and he drifted off to sleep.

When Harry woke the train was speeding through a beautiful landscape of grey mountains, crystal clear lochs and a mix of green fields and purple moors. He stretched and stood, looking around the compartment and noting _Survival Instincts_ lying on the floor. Just as he bent down to pick it up he heard a voice over the intercom saying "Perth and Kinross, only three more stops until Inverness" Harry grumbled at these words, it may be only four stops away but it was also two hours away. The voice cut through his thoughts with another message "all passengers please proceed to the third cabin from the front for lunch" this message came as a very positive one to Harry as he had woken up refreshed and hungry and very ready to have some nice food. He stood and walked slowly from the carriage where he was which was the second one from the front to the dining carriage where he stared around at the nice setup. There must have been about thirty or forty other people on the train who were sitting in the dining carriage. Harry made his way to an empty table and sat down on a seat to wait for a waiter to come and give him a menu. He did not have to wait long as a young man in a white suit came over and handed him a menu before waiting for Harry to decide on what he was having, it did not take long for Harry to choose the Steak Fillet and hand back the menu to the waiter.

Lunch passed quickly for Harry, serving time was as far as Harry could tell pretty fast though Harry had little experience with muggle fine dining. He never went out whenever the Dursley's went out and Aunt Petunia's cooking was subpar at best. But this, this was heavenly. The steak was perfectly marinated and the lemon, lime, and bitters he had chosen to drink were icy cold and delicious. He smiled as he mopped up the last vestiges of the marinade, as leaned back he couldn't help wondering if maybe magic made food faster but worse quality because this food outstripped Mrs. Weasley's cooking the way Linford Christie outstripped the field at the 1993 World Championships. He was about to head back to his cabin when a voice crackled through the train saying "Fifteen minutes to Inverness, please gather up your luggage and await the train's arrival" Harry stood, stretching his aching bones and walked back to his cabin where he pushed _Survival Instincts_ into his trunk and sat on it, squashing it down. Eventually, when for him it was squashed enough he stood and stared out the cabin window. He saw the river moving past on his right and if he stretched his neck and looked ahead he could see Castle Macbeth ahead of them, rising in the north in all its beige stone glory. It was nothing on Hogwarts of course but of castle's Harry had seen, which could be counted on one hand; this ranked quite highly. But as the train ground to a halt, Harry couldn't help thinking how good it would be to see Hogwarts again.

A.N Again I just want to say how sorry I am for taking so long to update. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up faster. Please review if you enjoy this chapter and I will try to post faster.


	8. The Blazing Sun

A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating for awhile but life has just got in the way. I have exams coming up and had to make sure that I was revising well. However, I have know found the time to write and as I move towards the end of school I think updates will become more common. I would like to thank everyone who has stuck with this story even during sizeable gaps between updates. With that over, sit back and enjoy chapter 8.

Chapter Eight The Blazing Sun

Harry closed his eyes and winced as the cold September sun blazed down in his eyes, causing even Harry Potter to close his eyes in subservience. It had been a good day for Harry, he had made good time from Inverness and he had expected to reach Hogwarts in the next hour, just as the sun went down. However, as his eyes adjusted to the burning light he could see the glittering towers of Hogwarts shining in the distance and suddenly a new feeling swept over Harry. It reminded him of a heatwave back in 1989 when he was ten. It had been dry for two months but then one day in August a cold front swept in and Harry had felt like things could finally get better. He had that same feeling now, despite the fact that Ron, Hermione, and Dumbledore would all be there, he knew he was where he belonged. He was home.

The walk around the black lake was longer than Harry had expected and as such he found himself coming close to the entrance hall just as the first carriages came into sight. Harry slowed, allowing the carriages to arrive at their destination before coming out of shadows and joining the general crowd of students. To any bystander, it would have looked as if Harry had always been there, and that was exactly what Harry wanted.

While Harry's plan to get into the hall had gone off without a hitch once he was in the hall he realised the flaw in his plan. Because he was one of the first Gryffindor's here he was extremely noticeable to any other people who came into the hall. And noticed he was. To Harry it felt like every single person who entered the hall was staring at him and if not staring, they were glaring. Harry, however, was thankful that Ron and Hermione were not in the number of people arriving fast. Hopefully, his presence would be obscured by the time they turned up, however it was shown that Harry was being exceedingly optimistic.

He was avoided like the plague. Gryffindor's who came to sit down at their table would cast a suspicious glance at him before making sure to sit the furthest they could from him. Unfortunately for them, Harry had made sure to sit in the middle of the table, where he had thought he would be the most obscured. So as a consequence his housemates found themselves squashed right at the front and right at the back of the hall, in places that the 'popular' wizards and witches would never have dreamed of sitting.

And so it continued. Soon enough the places at the very front and very back were filled and the new arrivals were using some very interesting and creative methods to ensure that they came no closer than about 20 metres to Harry. He noticed that some students were even considering sitting on the floor to avoid being contaminated by Harry and his supposed 'mental condition'. When Harry had first seen the Prophet article written by a brain therapist at St. Mungo's hospital that theorised that Harry was suffering from a severe brain condition whose name was (unsurprisingly) unknown. What a load of hippogriff standard bull. Like a wizard could tell a non-magical neurological condition from a cuckoo clock. This was just another way for the ministry to 'prove' that Harry was mentally disturbed and was clearly lying about the return of Voldemort.

"You alright, Harry?" A new voice jolted Harry out of his internal rant about the Ministry. He looked up and saw the dark-skinned face of Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor 5th year and nodded in response, before saying, in a tone which Harry realised later sounded defensive and guilty "why shouldn't I be?"

"Well, given the fact that no one is sitting within 20 metres of you I'd say that you're not alright"

"How extraordinarily clever of you" Harry replied dryly

"Aww shuddup, Potter"

Harry couldn't help smiling. It felt good to finally talk to a friend, especially after what had happened with _them_. "So Harry, how was your summer?" Dean asked, "speaking of which why aren't you with Ron and Hermione?"

Harry felt his throat close up. How to ad lib? How to ad lib? Harry thought quickly and desperately trying to find something to say that Dean would believe. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Thankfully, Harry noticed Neville over in the corner coming towards them and called to him in relief. Neville nodded in greeting and hurried over to them. Harry noticed that Dean had a quizzical look on his face but the dark-skinned boy let the matter drop.

Neville yawned as he sat down opposite Dean and Harry. Smiling, Neville looked up at the other two and asked them collectively "So, how was your summer?" Harry cursed. He knew Dean wouldn't give up now, Thomas was a man on a mission and Harry knew that eventually he was going to crack. "Yes Harry, I've been wondering that too," Dean spoke slowly and deliberately in a way which reminded Harry creepily of Henrik "What are you hiding?"

Harry closed his eyes, slowly collecting his thoughts, trying to find the right way to phrase his answer. Harry looked down, placed his head in his hands and began to talk. Neville and Dean were good listeners, Harry knew that some of the other Gryffindors were listening but for some reason that didn't bother him. He talked of the fight against Voldemort and the aftermath, and he was almost up to the betrayal when Dumbledore interrupted him. The sorting, Harry found was a boring affair, and he was dead tired. So tired in fact he didn't care if he had his graveyard dream, the sleep would be worth it. As the sorting went on and on, Harry found his head lolling and just as Dumbledore commanded for food to appear Harry fell forward into a plate of mashed potatoes and began to sleep.

Thankfully for Harry, Dean knew to let him sleep. According to the boy, Neville had wanted to wake him but Dean had insisted Harry be given sleep. Though Harry wasn't sure if that was for Harry's benefit or Dean's amusement. Probably both. But Harry didn't mind. As the three boys walked to Gryffindor tower, laughing and chatting together Harry realised how much he needed friends. Even if their names weren't Ron or Hermione.

A/N: And cut. So another chapter finished and Harry is back at Hogwarts. Feel free to review or pm with any questions or ideas about where the story should go next. I hope for the next update to be out by the start of December. Until then, have fun :)


	9. The Princess

A/N: I am again sorry that I have been away from writing for so long but in between Christmas, holidays and some writer's block I haven't been able to write until now. Warning: this chapter contains suicidal themes.

Chapter 9 The Princess

Harry stretched and groaned softly as he woke. He glanced to both sides of gim and saw that Dean and the little traitor were still asleep. As he glanced out of the window he saw that the sun was just lighting the grounds and guessed that it was around 5:30. Now, usually Harry would've noticed this and just gone back to sleep because after all breakfast didn't start for another one and a half hours. However, in the summer Harry had decided to work on becoming more physically fit and strong because after all fighting Voldemort would require immense reserves of stamina to maintain his ground. So, long story short he had started to go for morning runs.

Harry was refreshed, awake and hardly tired at all after a hour long run all around the school grounds. As he looked down at his old watch he saw that he still had twenty minutes until breakfast so he decided to head down to the quidditch pitch to collect his thoughts. He was so preoccupied that he didn't notice where his feet were carrying him as he walked straight into one of the quidditch changing rooms and was only stopped when he heard the sound of a girl crying. At first he thought the news had come from in front of him in the changing room but as he went to see he found the changing room empty but for a letter lying in a puddle of tears. He deliberated slowly before finally deciding to look at it. It was wet and hardly readable but Harry could make out some words. It read:

 _Bitch Katie,_

 _You keep quiet about what I did to you because if you don't it's going to happen again and again...and to you and your mother and your sister...there will be more of us next time so if you wish for your sister to keep her virginity past the age of 9 you don't tell a soul._

 _Lucius Malfoy_

Harry's fist clenched, crumpling the letter as his anger grew into a cold, calm fury. How dare that evil man do that to Katie and threaten to do it to her family. When he caught up with Lucius Malfoy he was going to kill him, slow and painfully. Then a sudden question hit Harry's brain. Where was Katie? He looked down at the way he had came in and noticed a line of tears leading the way out and onto the field. Harry slowly followed the trail until he spotted Katie on a school broom, high in the air. Harry knew what was going to happen a second before it did. Katie turned her broom and started to speed towards the ground and certain death.

Harry turned and grabbed one of the flimsy school brooms. It wasn't exactly a firebolt but it would do. He kicked off and directed the broom so he would intercept Katie's broom. As the distance closed to 10 metres Katie finally noticed him and her eyes widened, she tried to veer away but it was too late. With a sickening crunch of wood on wood the brooms collided. Katie's broom had lost momentum when she tried to dodge Harry so it was her broom that spun worst and she slipped from and fell.

She would have fallen to her death had Harry not stretched out a hand and grabbed Katie by the wrist and held her. She looked up at him, glaring and Harry noticed the tears in her eyes. "Dammit Harry, let go!" she yelled at him but Harry shook his head doggedly and said "I'm not letting you go Katie." He turned the broom around and landed softly on the green grass, though Katie had a bit more of an uncomfortable landing.

She stood up and glared at Harry "Why didn't you just let me fall? I wanted to die but you stopped me" Harry looked over at Katie and said sadly "I saved you because you don't deserve to die like that just because of that scum Lucius Malfoy"

"You read the letter then" Katie said flatly,

"Yes, and I'm sorry for invading your privacy but you are one of my friends and I don't want you to die like that. It would just be giving in."

"It doesn't matter that you read it, and I just want to say thank you for saving me. I don't know what I was thinking" she said as tears appeared in her eyes,

"You were sad, ashamed and frightened" Harry replied. "I know what that can feel like." For once Katie did not answer and just sat there with tears on her face. Harry had a mental argument with himself before reaching over and putting his arm around Katie's shoulders. Katie flinched at first but then relaxed and laid her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry at first flinched as well but then smiled at the feeling of Katie's head on shoulder and just sat there stroking Katie's long brown hair.

They sat there together in comfortable silence for a time which Harry could not guess but eventually Katie lifted her head from his shoulder, and Harry eased his arm from around her back. They both stood and Katie looked at him and smiled. "Thanks for being here Harry, and for the not so trivial matter of saving my life" Harry couldn't stop a laugh from being released and looked at Katie and said "I don't know about you but all this life saving has made me quite peckish. I believe I am in the need of some breakfast." At this Katie laughed as well, a delightful tinkling sound like water running over rocks. A laugh which Harry found quite contagious and soon they were both in fits of laughter as they walked together up to the castle.

Harry and Katie entering the great hall together caused quite a stir, not just at the Gryffindor table but throughout all the hall. Mainly, Harry guessed because of his infamous status. Harry looked at the Gryffindor table wondering where to sit, Dean and Neville were sitting with the other Gryffindor 5th years, so sitting there was out. He was just about to resign himself to sitting with Colin and Dennis Creevey, when Katie grabbed his hand "come on, you're coming to sit with me today" Harry looked at her, the sleek soft brown hair that framed her face, the big dark brown eyes which at the moment were the best puppy dog eyes Harry had ever seen, and in that moment he couldn't imagine sitting anywhere else.

As he followed Katie to sit opposite the other members of the Gryffindor quidditch team: Angelina, Alicia, Fred and George. As they sat down Angelina and Alicia winked at Katie "getting close with Harry, are you Katie?" asked Angelina. Both Harry and Katie went beet red and started denying it profusely, which elicited laughs from the other four. "So Harry," began Angelina "this is probably a good time to tell you that I'm the new Quidditch captain" Harry took a moment to register the information before speaking "Congratulations Angelina, you really deserve it and I think you'll be a great captain, just please no more two-hour lectures"

"Now, now Harry enough with the compliments, I'm sure Katie's getting jealous, but I can assure no more two-hour lectures" Angelina said, laughing. Katie glared at Angelina which only made the older girl laugh more. In fact she was laughing so much she didn't notice Professor McGonagall coming up behind her until the professor said sharply "Miss Johnson" In a flash Angelina stopped laughing and looked at the teacher "Sorry professor" apologised Angelina. "No need to apologise" said the teacher "I was merely giving the other five their schedules, though I suppose since you've finished laughing you may have yours as well. Now I recommend Potter leaves now, he does have divination in what, 5 minutes" Harry jumped and sprinted out towards the entrance hall, though as he left he thought he heard Alicia demanding the truth about Katie and him. Harry laughed, he truly was back at Hogwarts.

A/N: There we go Chapter 9 is complete this chapter was in equal parts fun and difficult to write. I would appreciate feedback and ideas about where this story could go because currently I have only a rough plot outline so this story could change based on YOUR ideas so be sure to leave a review with suggestions.


	10. Ron Gets Owned And Snape Hates Harry

A/N: So I'm back with Chapter 10.

Thundersphinx: I must have just made a mistake with the word middle rather than upper.

Hotkillerz: I had been thinking of something like this for Harry.

Chapter 10 Ron Gets Owned And Snape Hates Harry (Again)

Despite Harry's reading of _Unfogging The Future_ when he was bored during the summer, Divination continued to be the meaningless, hot waste of time that it always was. They were trying to interpret parts of dreams using some piece of rubbish called _The Dream Oracle_. Harry was sitting next to Dean and listening to the other boy trying to make out his dreams. Harry had no need for this, honestly a 5-year-old could probably interpret his nightmares about the graveyard.

He was risen from his stupor by Dean's voice "Harry, that was pretty funny how you embarrassed Ron in front of the whole class, but why did you do it? Apart from that part in 4th year, you and Ron have been friends like, forever." Harry smirked, as he remembered the start of Divination. Ron had already chosen a table when Harry turned up and the red-headed git had the gall to beckon to Harry to come over and sit at his table. Inwardly appalled by the idiot's actions, Harry thought back to what Malfoy had said to him at the start of first year. Summoning his best Malfoy drawl, he turned his nose up at Ron and said slowly, " You'll find some wizarding families are much better than others, Weasley. Wouldn't mummy be sad if you were consorting with the bad, bad boy-who-lied?" Harry proceeded to imitate Malfoy's walk as he walked over to where Dean was sitting. This had made the entire class burst out laughing and Ron to glare at him venomously, which caused Harry's smile to widen further.

The rest of Divination passed uneventfully and the only action came when they were walking to Potions. Ron stalked up to Harry, Dean, and Neville and glared at them in turn, "You think you're so funny Potter," he spat. "Just because you've got a dumb scar on your head, you think it makes you better than everybody else."

"No, what makes me better than you is that I don't steal from my friends like you do. Don't talk to me again Weasley because if you do, I can guarantee that you will regret it." Harry growled, putting all his fury at Ron for his betrayal into his voice. Harry was delighted to see the look of nervousness that passed over Ron's face before the ginger turned and fled. Neville looked at Harry, "What exactly were you talking about when you said ' _I don't steal from my friends_ '?" Harry realised he would have to tell them sooner or later, "Well, we don't have time now but I promise I'll tell you at lunch. Now we need to hurry or we'll be late."

When they got to the Potions class they were surprised to find the rest of class rather than sitting down, were standing at the back. Quickly the three boys went to join their classmates. "Potter, Thomas, and Longbottom you are on time, barely," said Snape, lingering over the last word. Harry thought he could detect disappointment in Snape's voice and filed that away for further reference. "So you may be wondering why I told you to all stand at the back, and that is indeed a good question. The answer is Professor Dumbledore has asked me to conduct a pilot of an exercise he plans to implement. This means, a Gryffindor working with a Slytherin, and a boy with a girl," Snape said. There were collective groans throughout the rooms as Gryffindors glared at Slytherins and Slytherins glared right back. As muttering filled the room, Snape yelled "Silence, you will do this," he said, glaring at each one of them in turn. "And you will like it. These are the pairings." He waved his wand and names formed in the air as he wrote with his wand. Harry was reminded of Riddle in the chamber. The list said:

 **Harry Potter Pansy Parkinson**

 **Ron Weasley Millicent Bulstrode**

 **Neville Longbottom Tracey Davis**

 **Seamus Finnigan Sophie Roper**

 **Dean Thomas Daphne Greengrass**

The reaction to this was mixed. Neville, Seamus, and Dean thought that their results were OK. However, Ron and Harry were both grumpy about their partners. Though Harry thought that he probably should have expected it. Meanwhile, Sophie and Daphne were fine with their partners but Tracey, Millicent, and Pansy were grumpy. Tracey, because Neville was rubbish at Potions. Millicent because Ron was rubbish too. And Pansy because she just didn't like Potter. Snape called for silence and everyone watched as the other 5 pairings appeared. The list said:

 **Draco Malfoy Hermione Granger**

 **Blaise Zabini Parvati Patil**

 **Theodore Nott Lavender Brown**

 **Gregory Goyle Lily Moon**

 **Vincent Crabbe Sally Smith**

Again the reaction was mixed. Blaise, Theo, and their partners were fine with their selections. Lily and Sally were grumpy because Crabbe and Goyle were idiots. However, in Harry's opinion, Malfoy and Granger's reaction were priceless. They both had looks of absolute horror and proceeded to angrily glare at each other. Harry thought he could see a smirk on Snape's face as the teacher said "Find your partners and choose a table, today you will be making a Strengthening solution. I will grade this as if it was your OWL potion."

Harry stalked over to find Pansy who glared at him but followed him to a table. "We'll work together Potter, but I don't expect either of us to like it."

"That's fine because I don't expect anything different" Harry replied.

Harry's work consisted mainly of stirring and as he looked over at Pansy, he couldn't help smiling. Her hair was down and in that moment she looked very attractive.

"See something you like, Potter?" Pansy asked,

"I...um...uh," Harry stammered,

"Relax, Potter, I'm just messing with you," laughed Pansy. "You're cute when you get flustered." She raised a hand and flicked a strand of his hair behind his ear. "Well, time's up," she said as she packed away her things. "I'll see you around...Harry." She winked at him and walked away towards the door. "Flirting with Parkinson are you Harry?" Harry turned and saw Dean and Neville walking up to him. "Oh..uh," Harry said. Dean burst out laughing. "So how was it with your partners?" Harry asked hurriedly. "Oh, it was great," said Neville happily. "Tracey knew that I was bad so she made sure I was doing the parts I could do while she did the rest." Harry and Neville both looked expectantly at Dean. "It was fine with Daphne," Dean said. "We didn't really talk we just did the work." The three friends all smiled at each other and started to walk to lunch when Dean spoke: "Now where is that explanation, Harry?"

A/N: So another chapter complete. I will admit when Dumbles did nothing to promote inter-house unity during 5th and 6th years, so I came up with this invention. Next chapter will have Harry spilling the beans to Dean and Neville and the toad is introduced.


	11. Toadaphobia

A/N: So after almost seven months I am back. Some of you probably thought that this story was abandoned, although it hasn't, I did have major problems regarding the development of this story and it is that, along with other factors that has caused this hiatus. On another note, I am looking for someone to beta this story. If you would like to please leave a review or pm me.

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, why would I be writing fanfiction?

Chapter 11 Toadaphobia

The moment Harry walked into the defence classroom he knew with certainty that again, this class would be absolute trash. It started with the teacher. He recognised her from the hearing, and again he noticed her remarkable similarity to a toad. Honestly, couldn't the school at least hire people who looked like humans? How hard could it be to find someone who was qualified? For Merlin's sake, they had managed to hire a possessed incompetent, an incompetent fraud, a werewolf (not that Harry had anything against Lupin personally) and a death eater. Now that Harry thought about it, maybe he really should have paid more consideration to Fleur's offer for him to transfer to Beauxbatons. Whatever their teaching stocks were like, he was sure they could beat a literal ministry toadie. And when it came to Madame Maxime vs. The Old Man, Maxime won by an ocean, several countries and the Sahara desert. Resigning himself to the fact that he would have to probably resist the temptation to curse the toad's fat head off when she started spouting off garbage about how Harry was an addled liar.

She began the lesson by announcing the three course aims (three ways to prevent a capable student body), these in Harry's completely subjective opinion were utter garbage. As Harry had expected there was nothing in any of the course aims about the actual use of defensive magic, just the theory. However, know he thought about it, it was a pretty good way of preventing the development of any of Dumbledore's supposed child soldiers, while also indoctrinating the students with the teachings of the ministry. So maybe, Harry thought despondently, he should probably give Fudge some credit where it's due, though then again, it was probably Lucius Malfoy. So yeah, nah.

Harry managed to make it thirty minutes before the inevitable happened, the pink thing made a mocking remark about how people who believed Dumbledore's words about what had happened during the Third Task were clearly mentally unstable and had been manipulated and indoctrinated by the evil headmaster and his little sycophant Harry Potter. Now Harry could stand for the toad making derogatory comments about the old man, after all Harry now generally shared her dislike of Dumbledore. However, Harry would not stand for any comments which gave the impression that he couldn't think for himself and just parroted the views of others. Harry ground his teeth and clenched his knuckles, feeling them crack under the force. He stood and looked around at the class, putting on an air of wonder and surprise. He looked at Dean and said slowly, "Mr. Thomas, please take notes as an incredible event has occurred here today." Dean nodded and mimed taking notes with an invisible quill. "On September 2nd, 1995, a toad spoke in English," The whole class roared with laughter, while Umbridge looked like she had swallowed a rat. "The Department for the regulation and control of magical creatures will be notified because surely there must be some magic here." This was too much for Umbridge, she turned purple and glared at him with a fury that made the rest of the class take a metaphorical step back. She looked for a second like she wanted to curse him but managed to get her temper under control and smiled at him with a sickly sweet smile that didn't reach her eyes. Umbridge reached under her desk and pulled a piece of bright pink parchment. She scrawled something on it with a long black quill and looked up, "Mr Potter, come up here please." Harry walked towards her warily, however when he reached her, all she did was hold out the parchment for him to take.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall," she said. Harry simply nodded, took the parchment and walked out the door.

As Harry walked down the hallway he reflected on the promise that he had made to Dean and Neville. He had been planning to tell them before defense but had been sidetracked by an argument with Seamus over the events of three months ago. This had ended badly on both sides as Harry had threatened to use the Cruciatus on Seamus so he could see that he was describing it accurately, not that he actually intended to go through with it, but it terrified Seamus enough that he didn't tell a teacher. Harry felt a bit bad that Seamus had actually been scared of him but he wasn't going to let Seamus know that.

So Harry was back to step one, trying to find a time to tell Dean and Neville the full story without anyone else overhearing. As he stalked down the corridor, fists clenched, Harry found himself confronted by the insufferable nuisance that was Peeves, the Hogwarts poltergeist. Peeves looked down at him, a wicked grin on his face.

"Why, it's Potty," cackled the poltergeist. "Out of class too. Does Potty need to go to the hospital wing to get an anti-lying potion?"

"Fuck off Peeves," Harry snapped. He was in no mood to deal with Peeves. Shoving past the poltergeist, Harry continued on, though behind him he could still hear Peeves' mocking laughter.

Harry arrived at Professor McGonagall's office still fuming from his encounter with Peeves, therefore he knocked with a much greater ferocity than was needed. He regretted it straight away as the door opened, revealing an irate Professor McGonagall.

"And just who do you think you are, beating my door like an ape?" she yelled, her Scottish accent all too evident.

"Professor, Professor Umbridge told me to give you this," he said, holding out the lurid role of parchment. Harry watched as her eyes contracted into a frown. She sighed and motioned him into her office.

"I think you had better come in." Harry nodded and walked in, taking a seat in one of the hard backed wooden chairs that faced McGonagall's desk. Professor McGonagall took the much more comfortable looking chair across from him and steepled her fingers, looking down at him with an air similar to one that one might use when meeting a recidivist offender. It annoyed Harry greatly as it reminded him all too much of Dumbledore.

"Mr Potter, it says here that you are to spend detention with Professor Umbridge every night for the next week, pending further consideration," McGonagall said, her eyebrows rising as she spoke. "May I ask what exactly it was you did that warranted this decision?"

Harry shrugged.

"I merely made a note of an extraordinary event that happened during defence this afternoon."

"And this extraordinary event was what exactly?" Professor McGonagall asked, her mouth forming a dangerously thin line.

"The event of a toad talking in english," said Harry, smirking. Harry could've sworn that a small smile played across the Professor's face as he said the words, before she sighed again and shook her head gravely.

"Mr Potter, I would warn you to be careful around Professor Umbridge as she acts for an authority that is not the headmaster of Hogwarts school."

"I'll bear that in mind, Professor," nodded Harry, standing and walking towards the door. Harry laughed bitterly under his breath, as if the toad could cow him. They thought him a sycophant and/or a fool; Umbridge, Fudge, McGonagall and Dumbledore would see that he was neither, especially Dumbledore.

The bell rang as he emerged from McGonagall's office, quickly he made his way back towards the defence classroom, catching Dean and Neville just before they joined the rest of the throng heading for dinner. He waved to get their attention and sure enough the pair noticed and headed over to him.

"Come on," Harry said, already beginning to walk in the opposite direction to the great hall. "I need to talk to you about the thing I said I was going to talk to you about."

"Can't it wait until after dinner Harry?" asked Neville, who was struggling to keep up with the brisk pace that Harry was setting.

"No," Harry said shortly. "It needs to be in private, and the best time for that is now."

They arrived at the, unsurprisingly, deserted library and Harry found a concealed corner in which they grouped together, Neville and Dean sitting with Harry standing. Harry took a deep breath, opened his mouth and began to recount the events that had happened over the last summer.

When he finished he was surprised by how tired he was. Not physically tired but mentally exhausted. He looked down at Dean and Neville and saw with some degree of pleasure the looks of horror and disgust etched on both of their faces.

It was Dean who spoke first.

"Harry, mate, I can't believe they'd do that to you. Like, you've been friends since first year. Your friendship seemed so legit and real."

Harry nodded glumly.

"I thought so too, but I guess I was just as wrong as you apparently were."

Neville looked up at him.

"Harry, I'm not going to pretend that this is a good thing but this can show you one thing. You still have friends, people like Dean and I, even if our names aren't Ron or Hermione."

Harry smiled, a true smile that lit up his face. This was what he had wanted, but not dared to hope to hear.


End file.
